Ancient Chinese astronomical instruments draw visitors on cosmic journey

A museum exhibition in east China's Anhui Province is offering visitors a different perspective on the country's ancient civilisation by highlighting its long history of astronomical observation and scientific exploration.

Rather than focusing mainly on traditional treasures such as porcelain, calligraphy and ritual vessels, the exhibition features jade cosmological diagrams, ancient star charts and bronze astronomical instruments created by Chinese scholars centuries ago.

Titled "Heavenly Questions: The Cosmological Vision of Chinese Civilization," the exhibition at the Anhui Museum brings together nearly 300 artefacts from 48 institutions across China. It is one of the country's rare exhibitions dedicated specifically to presenting ancient Chinese views of the universe through cultural relics.

Since opening in July, the exhibition has attracted around 350,000 visitors, many drawn by the astronomical instruments once used to observe, measure and understand the cosmos.

Among the main attractions is a jade slab dating back 5,800 to 5,300 years and roughly the size of a smartphone. Eight arrows at its centre represent the eight directions, while arrows at the four corners appear to correspond with sunrise and sunset positions during the winter and summer solstices. The cosmological diagram may predate Britain's Stonehenge.

Other notable exhibits include China's oldest equatorial astronomical instrument, a disk bearing the 28 lunar star mansions discovered in the tomb of a marquis dating to 165 BC, and a bronze water clock from the Western Han Dynasty (202 BC-25 AD), the earliest dated water clock ever discovered.

The exhibition also features a rubbing of a Southern Song Dynasty (1127-1279) stone-carved astronomical chart showing more than 1,400 stars. It remains the oldest known all-sky map based on actual astronomical observations.

"These 'hardcore creations' in ancient astronomy laid the technological foundation for studying the laws of celestial motion," said Meng Qian, director of the museum's research department.

The exhibition concludes by connecting ancient astronomical achievements with China's modern space programme. Ancient instruments, including globes and gnomons, are displayed alongside models of modern spacecraft such as the Yutu lunar rover and lunar soil samples collected by the Chang'e-6 mission in 2024.

Many of China's major space missions also carry names rooted in ancient Chinese mythology and culture. The country's lunar exploration programme is named after Chang'e, the legendary goddess of the moon. The Mars rover Zhurong takes its name from an ancient fire god, while the space-survey telescope Mozi is named after the philosopher credited with some of China's earliest optical experiments.

The exhibition takes its title from "Tianwen", or "Heavenly Questions", an epic poem written more than 2,000 years ago by patriotic poet Qu Yuan. China's Mars exploration programme also carries the name Tianwen.

"This exhibition lets ancient astronomy and modern space exploration illuminate and interpret each other," said Shi Yunli, a professor at the University of Science and Technology of China and an adviser to the exhibition.

"When visitors stand between the folded bronze gnomon and the Yutu rover, they see not just two objects on display, but they see a 5,000-year chain of quest," Shi said.

The exhibition will continue through mid-October as China's space exploration programme moves towards new milestones.

"We hope this exhibition will let visitors look back at the early lights of our culture, and also see the way forward," Meng said.